Badge



y 1944. s. o. HOLLAND ET A1. 2,348,627

BADGE Filed Feb. 11, 1941 Zinnentm-S: 5/?MUEL Omo HOLLHND mas/was YR/10H Roasters HMUEL HoLmss PLEx/co Mtomgs Patented May 9, 1944 OFFICEBADGE Samuel Otho Holland, Clarence Vernon Roberts, and Samuel HolmesPlexico, Salisbury, NFC.

Application February 11, 1941, Serial No. 378,380

1 Claim. (01. 292- 275) This invention relates to identification tagsand more especially to articles of this type adapted to be attached toones clothing, so that it cannot be detached without partiallydestroying the same. Badges or insignias are often distributed amonginvitees to dances, dinner parties and the like, instead of usingtickets. By displaying a badge or insignia upon the invitees coat lapelor other garment, it is possible to tell at a glance whether a person isan invited guest or an intruder. This system is particularly desirablewhere the invitees enter and leave the entertainment room several timesduring an evening.

Heretofore, a flexible cardboard having a female metallic button on oneend and a male metallic button on the other endhas been used as anidentification tag. To use this type of tag, the cardboard is doubledupon itself and the two buttons placed on opposed sides of a garment andpermanently fastened together through a button hole. As a result, it isoften very dinicult to remove the metallic buttons from the garmentsafter the event is over.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an identificationtag assembly to be attached to a garment and which can be easily removedtherefrom by destroying a portion of the assembly. Such a device makesit possible to permanently affix a tag to each invitee so that the samecannot be removed or transferred without tearing or damaging it, to anoticeable deree.

The assembly comprises a tag having tubular passageways attached to oneside thereof and having a flexible string having one end thereofattached to one passageway and the other end being adapted to bethreaded through the button hole of a garment and then through the otherpassageway. Each of the passageways have angularly disposed barbsprojecting on the inside thereof which permit the string to movetherethrough in one direction only; consequently when the free end ofthe string is looped through a button hole and inserted in thepassageway, the assembly cannot be removed without cutting the string ortearing the tag. Other modifications employing the same principle arealso shown.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is an isometric viewshowing my improved badge or insignia attached to the lapel of a coat;

Figure 2 is an isometric view showing the reverse side of the badge withthe attaching strand secured thereto;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken alon the line 33 in Figure2;

Figure 4 is an isometric view of a portion of a coat lapel shown incombination with a slightly modified form of the invention;

Figure 5 is an isometric view showing the reverse side of the badge fromthat displayed in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in Figure 4;

Figure 7 is an isometric view showing the reverse side of still anothermodified form of badge.

Referring more particularly to the drawing. the numeral I0 denotes thelapel of a garment such as a coat or the like, said lapel having aconventional button hole or opening II therein. A flexible strand I2 isadapted to have one end thereof inserted through the opening II and topass downwardly through a passageway I4 in the display sign I5. Theother end of the strand I2 is adapted to pass around on the back side ofthe lapel I0 and then be passed downwardly through a similar passagewayI6 in the display sign I5. It will be noted that the display sign I5comprises two parts, namely, a flat board like member I! and areinforcing member I8, said reinforcing member being bent in the desiredfashion as at I9 and 20 to form the openings I 4 and I6, respectively,which receive the ends of strand I2. The member I! may be of anysuitable material, although it is preferable to make the same fromcardboard or other material which may be torn adjacent openings I4 andI6 when it is desired to remove strand I2. Member I8 is preferably madeof a metallic material which will retain its shape and act as areinforcement for member H.

The U-shaped formations I9 and 20 have suitable barbs 2| stampedtherein, the free ends of said barbs projecting inwardly and beingdisposed at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the openings I4and I6. The projecting ends of the barbs permit the strand to pass inone direction through each opening I4 and I6, and will prevent reversemovement of an inserted strand; consequently, when the strand I2 hasbeen threaded through the buttonhole II in the lapel I0, and the endsthereof passed downwardly through the openings I4 and I6 at an acuteangle to the projecting barb 2|, it i dif. ficult to remove the sign I5from the lapel with out cutting the string I2 or without tearing thefiat member I1 which is usually made of cardboard or the like. Ifdesired, the flat member I! may be of one color, and the string l2 of adifferent color, thereby providing an appropriate color combination forthe particular season and ceremony which it designates. Numerous colorcombinations could be obtained because there are two separable parts,namely, the sign assembly l5 and the strand 12.

In Figures 4, 5, andv 6, a slightly modified form of the invention isemployed, and here it is seen that a display sign 25, made of suitablematerial such as cardboard or the like, has attached there.- to as at26, a strand of flexible material 21. This strand is threaded through abuttonhole l I and then passed through a semi-circular passageway 28,formed by member. 29; said member 29 being attached to the same side ofthe sign.

25 as the strand 21 is attached. Tubular member 29 has suitable inwardlydisposed barbs 30 which are adapted to project inwardly into passageway28 and engage the strand 21 when it is inserted. These barbs preventreverse movement of the strand 28, once it has been'inserted. When it isdesired to remove the assembly from the lapel, it is necessary to eithercut the strand 2! or else to tear the member 25 apart from members 29 soas to release the free end of the strand from the barbs 30.

Figure '7 shows still another modified form of the invention in which afiat display sign 3| is employed and which has attached thereto asuitable metallic tubular member'32, said tubular member having aplurality of' angularly disposed barbs 33 for extending inwardlytherefrom. When it is desired to attach the display sign to a garment,it is only necessary to take a strand 36, and pass it through thebuttonhole of' a garment and then insert both of the ends through thetubular member 32 so that the barbs 33 will engage the strand andprevent reverse movement.

It is therefore seen that We have provided a very simple and inexpensiveinsignia which may be secured to a garment so that it cannot be removedwithout damaging the assembly to a noticeable degree and thus preventusage of the same badge or insignia by other people who are notauthorized to do so. Also the insignia may be removed from the garmenteasily merely by destroying a part of the assembly, and without damagingor distorting the garment.

In the drawing and specification, there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth inthe following claim.

We claim:

A seal comprising a tearable sheet of material having one end of a cordattached thereto, a metallic sheet having a groove therein, barbspunched from the metallic sheet and projecting into the groove, the faceof the metallic sheet having the groove therein being adhesively securedto one faceof the tearable sheet, whereby when the free end of the cordis passed through the groove whose open side is closed by the tearablesheet, the cord cannot be removed from the groove except by peeling thetearable sheet from the metallic sheet or by tearing the portion of. thetearable sheet which covers the said groove.

SAMUEL OFIHO HOLLAND, CLARENCE VERNON ROBERTS. SAMUEL HOLMES PLEXICO.

